The Chancellor has announced he will support 600,000 small businesses by extending the small business rate relief scheme for another year.

In an unexpected move today in his Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne said he would drop planned changes to tax credits which would have seen some lower income families lose £1,000 or more a year. Read more...

George Osborne has told the House of Commons that his job is now to rebuild Britain, having repaired the economy in the last Parliament, as he began delivering his Autumn Statement.

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He said the spending review showed that the Government is putting security first and keeping citizens safe at home. Economic security is at the heart of everything, he stressed, saying that there will be a budget surplus of over £10bn by 2020.

Reminding MPs of the Coalition’s job to ‘rescue’ Britain back in 2010, he said the job was now to ‘rebuild’ Britain and he pledged to leave a stronger country than it inherited.

He said he was determined to take necessary steps to protect economic security.

His four year plans to deliver surplus are on track, he said, as he promised to bring debts down and said it has fallen and will continue to do so for the next four years.

The economy has grown almost three times faster than Japan and twice as much as France, without being fuelled by an “irresponsible banking boom”, he said.

He said: “We’re determined this will be an economic recovery for all felt in all parts of the country. The Midlands is creating jobs 3 times faster than London and the southeast. The highest employment is in the south-west. Our long-term economic plan is working."

He said, however, that debt was still too high and productivity needed to be higher.

Economic growth will be 2.4% this year, even despite the weaker global picture, he said and it has been revised up by 2.4% for 2016.

Growth is then predicted to be 2.5% for 2017, 2.4% in 2018 and 2.3% in 2019 and 2020.

Another million jobs will be created over the next five years, he said.

He revealed the Government is set to borrow £8bn less than forecast to “fix the roof while the sun is shining” and will spend £12bn more on capital investment.

He said the review sets out far reaching changes about the state and offers greater opportunity for all.

Tweet to @FPTodayNews to contribute your comments and thoughts and use the hashtag #AutumnStatement .

George Osborne is delivering his Autumn Statement at 12.30pm today in the House of Commons – and you can follow our live blog here for all the updates.

The Chancellor is expected to touch upon a number of subjects specifically relevant to Financial Planners.

Although it is more likely he will leave major decisions such as those relating to the pension tax relief review to the April 2016 Budget, he is expected to make some important statements.

Tweet to @FPTodayNews to contribute your comments and thoughts and use the hashtag #AutumnStatement.

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